No One Write Songs About The Ones That Come Easy
by xoxonessie
Summary: AU drabble inspired by Alice's manip "AU in which he goes back to Israel and proposes" (alyssinmymind [dot] tumblr [dot] com/post/78253536971)


So Alice made a manip of Tony proposing to Ziva ( post/78253536971), and I made a drabble. Obviously this is completely in the AU world... * sigh * Hope you like it anyway. Bonus points if you catch the Veronica Mars reference in there ;)

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She can't stop staring at it. For a second, she can't even remember how they ended up in that situation, him holding out a beautiful and delicate diamond ring to her and her staring at it, and him, in complete shock and confusion.

"Ziva?"

His voice startles her and the half expectant half worried look on his face tells her she's been silent for a little too long.

"I -" she begins, but the words get stuck and she feels like she might start hyperventilating soon.

"Look." Tony takes a step closer, the shiny ring moving closer with him, and his voice is even softer than moments before. "I know this is sudden, and probably a little crazy. But I also know that I can't live another day like this and I know you can't either." He pauses, and she realizes he's waiting for her to react. But she feels like she's paralyzed and all she can do is stare at the ring some more, completely at a loss.

"Ziva, I -" She hears him sigh and understands he now desperately needs a sign from her that she is listening to him and that she sees where he is going with this. She timidly looks up at him and takes a deep breath.

"What if it doesn't work out? What if _we_ do not work out?" Her voice is so low that she's ony sure he heard her because he's standing so close to her.

"It's a leap of faith, right? Getting married? Well, I have faith in us. We can make this work."

His voice is so gentle, so tender and reassuring that she feels suddenly overwhelmed by so much love for him she thinks her heart might explode and she has trouble breathing again.

She wipes a stray tear away from her cheek with the back of her hand and steps closer to him, until she can rest her forehead on his, her eyes closed and and trying to even her breathing out, just the way she did at the almost exact same spot such a long time ago in much different circumstances. She's got so many questions in her mind, so many conflicted feelings, she feels dizzy and he's the only thing grounding her right now.

"It is not going to be easy."

He has to laugh at the obvious statement and she can't help smiling as she hears the familiar sound she missed so much.

"No it most definitely is not. But again, was it ever?"

She sighs as memories of their past flash before her eyes. Pain, mistrust, betrayal, regret, broken hearts and feelings denied for far too long seem like the recurring themes of their story, only too rarely counterbalanced by random bits of mindless fun, unexpected moments of shared intimacy and occasional demonstrations of genuine affection.

"Should a relationship really have to be that hard though?"

"_No one writes songs about the ones that come easy_."

She knows there must be a cultural reference in there somewhere, but she's so lost in the moment that she can't bring herself to care that she's completely missing it.

Tony then withdraws fom their embrace and holds up the ring a little higher than before, as if making sure she hasn't forgotten what the point of the matter really is.

"Size 5, right?"

She laughs a little, mostly from the tension slowly vanishing away around them and also because she can't believe he remembers that, and sniffles away the tears that are once again threatening to fall.

"Yes." She nods for emphasis and then she stops laughing and looks at him, _really_ looks straight into his eyes for the first time since he arrived that morning. She sees excitement and hope. She sees faith and trust. She sees the promise of a better future and a life lived at the fullest. But what she sees most of all is love. Pure, unadulterated love.

She takes a deep breath and sobers up.

"Yes."

The smile on her face hurts and the tears fall freely now as he gently takes her left hand in his and, shaking a little, delicatly puts the ring on her finger. And when his hands come up to cup her face and he kisses her with so much passion and so much strength, she has faith too that they are going to be okay.


End file.
